


Pillow Fight

by blizzara



Category: Adventure Time
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-15
Updated: 2015-11-15
Packaged: 2018-05-01 18:03:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5215397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blizzara/pseuds/blizzara
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s a mistake, and one he needs to rectify as soon as possible.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pillow Fight

**Author's Note:**

> An old Adventure Time fanfic inspired by fanart. No link because it's not up anymore, but [this](http://curagas.tumblr.com/post/14450903663/planetariums-pillow-fight-by-curagas-i-drew) was drawn based on the fic.

It’s a mistake, and one he needs to rectify as soon as possible.

That’s what keeps going through Gumball’s mind as he frowns at the pillow in his hands. So far, his efforts have all been utter failures. He couldn’t work up the nerve to ask Peppermint Maid to throw it away, and concealing a pillow that size was conspicuous at best – he’d gotten nowhere near the fireplace in the dining hall before somebody asked about that thing he was carting around. And explaining the situation to Fionna had been no better, she couldn’t quite fathom how he was in trouble when no peril was involved.

Really, how could he tell anyone that, somehow, he’d received a pillow with an image of a half-naked Marshall Lee on it? Given the lack of a return address on the package, he doesn’t even know who it came from or where it was supposed to go. It just happened to wind up on his doorstep, and he’s got no idea what to do about it.

The prince strongly suspects that kind of story would be difficult to believe.

“This is ridiculous,” he mutters to himself, eyebrows knitting together as he tries to come up with a solution to this unique dilemma. There must be something he can do, some way to be rid of the thing before anyone gets a good look at it. Whatever it might be, he knows he ought to figure it out soon, because there’s only so long that he can usher servants back out of his room to avoid them spotting the pillow. “Why would anyone send such a…” he pauses, considering what exactly to call it. At last he settles on: “…distasteful thing?”

Gumball’s choice adjective sounds awkward to his ears, and he realizes he’s been staring at the pillow for more than a few minutes by this time. Letting out an exasperated huff, he tosses it on his bed and pointedly turns away, ignoring how warm his face has come to feel. Focus, he needs to focus. What to do…

As he mulls over his options, his attention strays over the lab equipment on his desk and his expression brightens. Science is always the right answer, why didn’t he think of it sooner? “Of course, I could-“

“-Dude, what is this thing?”

The sound of a certain vampire’s voice makes Gumball freeze, thoughts immediately derailed. With no small measure of reluctance, he turns around, cringing as he watches Marshall Lee examine the pillow with a look of marked puzzlement. Of course Marshall would stop by at a time like this, of course he would.

Even as Gumball tries to come up with the right words for this situation, Marshall’s gaze eventually lifts from the pillow and levels on the prince instead. “…You have a hump pillow. With me on it.” It’s not a question this time, it’s an assertion of apparent fact, and the vampire even points at the item in question as though anybody might fail to realize what he’s referring to.

“A-a what?” Gumball sputters, unable to come up with anything more articulate. In all honesty, he’d had no idea what to call it (other than distasteful, of course), openly gaping at the words. Surely that couldn’t be what it is.

The shock is lost on Marshall, who either doesn’t believe it or is too stunned himself to actually appreciate it. He picks the pillow up rather casually, giving the plush material a squeeze. It’s almost life-sized, he observes, turning it around and finding it has a picture of his backside, too. “I didn’t even think you were into that kinda thing, but why am I-“

Marshall Lee doesn’t finish the question, falling silent as the implications of Gumball having something like this seem to occur to him. And then his blue face is taking on an unusually rosy hue, which only manages to fluster Gumball further. He can tell from the look he’s getting how this all has been interpreted, and it doesn’t make it any easier on him.

“It’s not like that, I don’t even know where it came from,” the prince finally manages, swallowing thickly as he tries to compose himself. This is exactly the sort of thing he was worried about, and he really wishes he could’ve avoided it, in part because it brings up things he’s not yet ready to ponder. “I’ve never even heard of a…pillow…like that.”

Stepping closer, Gumball grabs at the pillow, but Marshall casually slips out of reach. He seems to have recovered well enough from the surprise, which doesn’t necessarily strike the prince as a good thing. “Like I’m buying that excuse. How’s something like this just happen to show up on your bed?”

Honestly, Gumball really wants an answer to that. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have one. Letting out a long-suffering sigh, he advances another step forward. “I intend to dispose of it, if you’d just hand it over.”

Once again Gumball tries to take the pillow from Marshall Lee, and again he’s thwarted when the vampire glides away. After giving the pillow an exaggeratedly thoughtful glance, Marshall tosses it up in the air and catches it. “Maybe I should see what your subjects think about this one.”

That inspires nothing short of a scowl. “You wouldn’t…” But even as Gumball says it, he’s perfectly aware that Marshall might. The collateral embarrassment might not be enough to outweigh the chagrin it would bring to the candy prince, something they both happen to be contemplating. “If you insist, you won’t be welcome here for-“

“There’s the whole rest of Aaa,” Marshall blithely replies, once again evading Gumball’s attempt to take the pillow away from him. They’re both aware that the vampire seems to collect banishments like badges of honor, and they never last for terribly long besides. Not to someone who’s been around as long as Marshall Lee has, anyway.

Gumball brings a hand to his face, aware that he’s getting absolutely nowhere at this point. No matter how many ways he says it, Marshall is probably not going to believe him. And it’s not as though he can blame him; there’s not much by way of plausible deniability to be had in this situation.

In the ensuing silence, the vampire turns toward the window, apparently ready to go – or at least make a show of it. Before he can get anywhere, Gumball makes a last-ditch effort to get the pillow back from him, tackling Marshall and sending the pillow flying. It lands somewhere on the floor, leaving the two boys to grapple on the prince’s bed.

“Figs, Gumball, what was that for?!” Despite the obvious reasons, Marshall Lee manages to sound indignant while attempting to get free. But with the pillow successfully taken away, Gumball is intent on keeping him away from it, grabbing at Marshall’s wrists even as he tries to shove him off. “Get off of me already, you’re heavy-“

The complaint is hardly justified, and is naturally ignored. While the prince can’t keep Marshall at bay for very long, it’s better than just letting him leave with that pillow to sully his name across the land of Aaa. Despite his best efforts, Gumball is also aware the only reason he hasn’t simply been tossed off is because Mashall Lee wouldn’t intentionally hurt the few friends he has, not that he would admit to that.

If anything, he’d probably make a show of threatening Gumball’s life if he ever pointed it out.

“If I have to hold you down in order to talk some sense into you, then that’s what I’ll do,” Gumball states, having a difficult time keeping Marshall from twisting out of his grip. He’s a prince, he’s not really meant to fight his own battles, but he can hardly call Fionna in on this one.

“Big talk for somebody who needs rescuing all the ti-“ Marshall’s retort gets cut short as Gumball’s bedroom door opens, a pair of white rabbit ears heralding the arrival of an adventurer the two know well.

Peeking into the room, Fionna doesn’t immediately notice them, looking around the room. “Hey Prince, you hung up all of a sudden earlier, you alri-“ And then she spots them, effectively silenced by the sight. A few times over, she seems about to say something, but nothing comes out.

It’s Marshall who breaks the stillness with feigned casual ease, “Hey, Fi. What’s up?”

The look of consternation on Fionna’s face doesn’t go anywhere. If anything, the more time she has to get a good look at her friends, the more openly puzzled she seems. They’re on Gumball’s bed, they’re both a bit of a mess, and apparently were in the middle of grabbing at each other. Unfortunately, she’s the only one of the three to have her particular perspective on the situation, so her confusion is only met in kind.

“…I uh…see you dudes are…busy,” Fionna finally manages, finding something else to look at. She isn’t entirely sure what this is, or at least she really doesn’t want to guess. Having said this, she shifts a little awkwardly in the doorway before mumbling something to herself and leaving with a click of the door.

Once again silence takes reign, before Gumball takes a moment to try and figure out what brought that on. It doesn’t take him very long, flushing at the realization. “…Oh dear.” The words come with a measure of resignation, finding that ultimately, Marshall has managed to make his life awkward without even waving that ridiculous pillow in peoples’ faces.

The moment Gumball’s grip slacks, Marshall takes the opportunity to float away, straightening his shirt as he watches the door. “Wonder what’s wrong with Fionna…” His tone suggests he’s genuinely uncertain, even if his company finds it hard to believe that anyone would fail to figure it out. Then again, the vampire’s got a fairly unique outlook...

Remembering the pillow, Gumball scurries off of his bed to recover it before Marshall does, hoping to avoid another battle over it. “At least she didn’t see this thing…” He mumbles to himself, although it’s not much of a comfort. There really is only so much embarrassment a guy could take at one time, and he’s fairly sure that he’s had his share.

“-You’re right, I should’ve shown her,” Marshall says with a snap of his fingers, as though he’s foregone an opportunity at something important.

“I would really rather you didn’t…” Gumball shakes his head, supposing that he’s going to wind up watching the pillow like a hawk until Marshall Lee decides to leave. It’s no less awkward to actually look at than it was before, but he’d rather that than have Fionna and Cake bring it up to him later.

After a few moments of thoughtful silence, the vampire shrugs. “Knowing your little subjects, they’d probably explode because I’m too awesome for them, anyway.” It more or less translates to not carrying out his earlier threats, something Gumball has learned to recognize by now, visibly brightening at the words.

When Marshall gets a good look at that, he hisses and makes a face that’d give children nightmares. “Quit looking at me like that, Bubba, I’ll eat your face.”

 

Meanwhile, Ashley wonders why she never did get that pillow she ordered…


End file.
